Waiver Worthy: Week 9 Fallout: Roy Helu, Donald Brown and More

by Will Overton

Week 9 is now down and has presented us with some good options from the waiver wire and this could be a good week to utilize the wire because you may not have as much competition. Week 10 is the week where there will be no teams on bye which means fantasy players won’t be looking to fill as many holes except for those on the team who are injured, and generally the players on one’s bench can fill those spots.

Don’t let the fact that you don’t have holes filled this week stop you from making some moves for the future though. Better to grab a couple guys this week who might help you in the future than try and do it next week when more people will be paying attention to the wire.

Let’s take a look at some of the players who may be available:

Donald Brown – RB, Indianapolis Colts: Joseph Addai was supposed to come back this week, but he didn’t play at all against the Falcons and it was Donald Brown getting the bulk of the carries over Delone Carter. Brown had a season high 16 carries and 70 yards though did not cross the goal line. Carter wasn’t doing a poor job running and many thought of him as the running back of the future for the Colts so it is a mystery why he lost the job, and it is unclear what kind of impact Addai’s return will have, whenever that does happen. Brown isn’t a great option because of the uncertainty, but it can’t hurt to grab him and see how things play out this week, he is averaging 4.8 YPC, so there is upside.Verdict: Buy ‘Em

Roy Helu – RB, Washington Redskins: Speaking of unstable running back situations welcome to Washington and Mike Shannahan’s team. Ryan Torain got the start last week after Tim Hightower went down, but this week Shanny went with the rookie Roy Helu and he came through. Helu only picked up 10 carries and 41 yards, but he caught a tremendous 14 passes and had 105 yards on those catches. John Beck clearly isn’t comfortable with his other average targets, and Helu could continue to be a strong safety option. It’s not easy to trust any running back on a Shannahan led team, but it’s pretty clear Helu is the more talented back on the team and has the most upside in real football and fantasy. I think it’s time to put the fear to bed and make Helu a top waiver priority this week.Verdict: Buy ’Em

Josh Cribbs – WR, Cleveland Browns: It seems as if Cribbs is becoming a regular target for Colt McCoy and his big play ability has come through a couple weeks in a row with TD’s in back-to-back games now. Cribbs was targeted five times and made the catch all five times finishing with 50 yards and a TD. Cribbs isn’t very consistent as a receiver, think Devin Hester, but he is consistently a big play threat. The biggest problem is that the Browns don’t have a high flying offense and they don’t really throw the ball around too much. Cribbs also probably falls 3rd or 4th on the targets list on a regular basis. I love the big play ability, but think it’s just too big of a gamble unless you’re getting points for return yards.Verdict: Deny ‘Em

Jacoby Ford – WR, Oakland Raiders: Carson Palmer’s first week starting for the Raiders went a bit more smoothly than his first week coming off the bench. The biggest part of the day was the connection that seems to be there between Palmer and Jacoby Ford who has long been on the brink of being the Raiders surefire go-to receiver. So far this season the big plays have come from Darius Heyward Bey, but with Palmer in the mix it’s a new ballgame and Ford looks to be the early favorite for targets on a team that should be more comfortable throwing the ball now. Given the success of Ford in week one of the Palmer era you should consider at least taking a flier on him and seeing what might develop.Verdict: Buy ‘Em

Anthony Fasano – TE, Miami Dolphins: It’s not easy to ignore a two touchdown game from a tight end, and that’s not necessarily what I am suggesting, but I am not buying in yet. For starters Matt Moore had a much better game than you should expect on a regular basis. For two, Fasano was only the target of three passes in total and chances are if that doesn’t change he’ll have a hard time continuing to find the endzone regularly. There are several TE’s available in a lot of leagues I’d rather have than Fasano right now.Verdict: Deny ‘Em

Who are your waiver wire targets after week 9 and who are you ignoring? What are your thoughts on these five guys listed here?

2 comments

Time for my weekly Defense question – Dolphins or Jags?
I live in Indy so I’ve seen how ugly the Colts are so Jags were my first choice but some people are saying Miami vs the redskins are the ticket this week. What do you think?
Thanks for the help with my flex spot last week. Still won by 10 points even though I sat V. Jackson. Tebow picking up 23 and tolbert getting 19 really helped my cause.

What is your opinion on Kasey vs Janikowski? NO seems to be scoring more TDs then FG. I have used Kasey all year but there seems to be better options…

V. Jackson is an extremely tough player to predict this season. He’s had three monster games and five pretty poor ones. It’s all or nothing, which makes him extremely frustrating.

As for the other Qs:

D – Out of the four, I’d probably go with Washington, but none of them are too high up on my list. It really is a grab bag, so if Jacksonville is who you are comfortable with it’s not much different. It’s a personal choice.

K – I have them both in the Top 5 this week and don’t think you can really go wrong with either. However, if Janikowski is healthy, with his leg I would consider him the better option.